Rae Linda Brown facts for kids

Rae Linda Brown (born October 7, 1953 – died August 20, 2017) was an American musicologist. A musicologist is someone who studies the history and science of music.

Rae Linda Brown was a very important scholar. She studied and wrote about American classical music, especially music by Black composers. She helped people learn more about amazing musicians like Florence Price and William Grant Still. Besides her research, she was also a professor and helped create new learning programs at several universities.

Discovering Music History

Rae Linda Brown spent a lot of time researching music. She wrote books and articles about American classical music. She was especially interested in music by Black composers. Her work helped many people learn about these important artists.

Her Books and Research

One of her most famous books is Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price. This book, published in 2020, tells the story of Florence Price's life and music. Florence Price was a very important Black composer. Rae Linda Brown's book helped her music become more widely known.

Rae Linda Brown also worked as an archivist. This means she helped organize and preserve old music sheets and scores. She did this for a special collection at Yale University.

Early Life and Education

Rae Linda Brown grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. She went to college at the University of Connecticut. Later, she studied at Yale University. At Yale, she helped organize many old music pieces. This work became part of a big collection about Black life and culture.

Her Work on Florence Price

In 1987, Rae Linda Brown wrote her main research paper, called a dissertation, about Florence Price. For many years, she worked to find, edit, and share Florence Price's music. Because of her efforts, more people started to appreciate Price's contributions to American music. Her work even led to finding music by Price that no one knew existed! These newly found pieces are now kept at the University of Arkansas.

Helping Students and Universities

Rae Linda Brown was a professor at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine. At Irvine, she was in charge of the music department. She helped build a new building for the department. She also helped create new programs for students to study jazz and other types of music.

Leading Universities

From 2008 to 2015, Rae Linda Brown was a Vice President at Loyola Marymount University. This meant she helped lead the university and make sure students had a great learning experience. From 2016 until she passed away, she was a top leader at Pacific Lutheran University. In 2017, she received an award for her important research on African-American art songs.